The History of Perfume – Part 2
Cont’d
However, it was not until the latter half of the 14th century that alcohol based perfume came into existence. Legend has it that the first of these modern day perfumes was created by a monk in Hungary. The scent was made using rosemary and was given to Queen Elizabeth of Hungary around 1370.Well known for her beauty ,Queen Elizabeth at the age of 72 was able to use the perfume to help preserve her attractiveness and to obtain a proposal of marriage from the then 25 year old King of Poland.
In 1665 the guild of perfume makers was established in France at a time when the popularity of perfumery was on the rise with the birth of new blends and especially eau de colognes made form rosemary, neroli, bergamot and lemon. These fragrances were used in baths, stirred with wine, eaten on a sugar lump, and even used as enemas. The use of fragrances became so popular that the court of Louis XV became known as “the perfumed court”.
Perfume products became synonymous with Paris as in the 1830’s the process of vapor distillation came into general use in the perfume industry. Other new processes and discoveries, like analytic chemistry performed in laboratories in Grasse, France made this area, along with its rose, orange and jasmine growing industry, the commercial center of perfumery.
In the early 1900’s chemical advancement and the creation of synthetic fragrance materials enabled perfumers to create new fragrances on a proportion never seen before. Several thousand synthetic scents products were created and are still used in various combinations to create products even today. Bottling also became increasingly important. Perfume maker Francois Coty formed a partnership with Rene Lalique and produced bottles for many perfumers.
The real spread of perfume coincides with the advent of department stores in both Europe and the United States which gave perfumes a broader outlet.
The great perfumers like Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, and Patou to name only a few grew out of this era. Later in the mid 1900’s the names like Ricci and Lauder began to appear and more recently, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, we saw an explosion of designers and designed scents, like Lagerfeld, Lauren, Givenchy, Klein and others.
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